A problem with walking aids is that the ground-facing portion of the device, e.g. to foot, does not always conform well to the surface a walker is traversing. Several attempts have been made to improve the ability a walking aid has to interface with the ground. U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,986 shows footer assemblies that include foot pads for contact with a ground or flooring surface and attachment brackets that mount the foot pad to the lower end of a vertical support assembly having support rods interconnected by spaced connection members. However, such footer assemblies do not provide an ability for the foot pad to rotate laterally relative to the vertical support assembly, and thus if the vertical support assembly is extended laterally of the user, the foot pad will become angled relative to the ground flooring surface. This will reduce the effectiveness of the footer assembly to operate properly. Extending the vertical support assembly of a mobility assist device can be quite advantageous in providing a wide, and thus stable, support base for the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,536 references a foot member, preferably molded as a unit from rubber, having a gripper pad, a crutch holder and an interposed sleeve portion. A pivot pin preferably has a disc-like upper portion disposed within the crutch holder, and a depending pin portion extending through the sleeve portion and into the gripper pad. However, it is apparent that the device is difficult to service, and can generate noise when the pivot pin contacts the depending pin portion, which can irritate the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,771 references a walking aid for use in combination with a cane, crutches or the like having a foot member provided with a centrally located base formed with a central socket for insertably receiving the foot end of the cane or crutch. The foot member is provided with several raised reinforcement ribs on its top surface that radiate outwardly between the socket and the base. This walking aid suffers from a shortcoming, however, in that a contact patch with the ground is limited to being less than the entire area of the walking device in order to accommodate rolling of the foot member of the waling aid. This can reduce the fictive force available from the walking aid.